Carrying device for bottle carriers



Jan. 12, 1954 H. w. FORRER 2,665,838

CARRYING DEVICE FOR BOTTLE CARRIERS Filed May 15, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

HOMEI? W FORRE/P BY Jan. 12, 1954 H. w. FORRER 2,665,838

CARRYING DEVICE FOR BOTTLE CARRIERS Filed May 15, .1950

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

HOMER W I a/P957? 7 m dz Mu/ 1 3M ATTORNEYJ Patented Jan. 12, 1954 UNITD f STATES D F F 1 Homer W. Forrer, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to Atlanta Paper Company, a corporation of' Georgia Application May 15, 1950, Serial :No. 162,002

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates generally to bottle carriers, and more particularly to a carrying device by which two bottle carriers of the usual 6- bottle capacity may be assembled as a unit for carrying twelve bottles.

There are many instances in which bottle carriers of 12-bottle capacity are desirable, and there have been prior proposals for enlarging the more usual fi-bottle carrier to a iii-bottle size. These enlarged bottle carriers, however, have all involved the characteristic difi'iculty of not being adapted for use readily with the facilities normally employed in handling the bottle carriers of 6-bottle capacity, such as the automatic bottle loading equipment and the shipping cases in which the loaded carriers are distributed. The shipping cases, for example, are commonly formed with interior partitions setting off individual spaces for each loaded carrier,.which partitions must be removed if enlarged carriers are used, but which removal then renders the cases unsuited for the carriers of 6-bottle size. As a result, the use of enlarged bottle carriers of 12- bottle capacity has been substantially restricted.

Accordin to the present invention these difficulties are obviated by providing a carrying device, as noted above, by which two bottle carriers of the usual 6-bottle size may be assembled as a 12-bottle unit so that they may still be handled in the ordinary manner with the facilities used for the G-bottle carrier.

The carrying device of the present invention is described in further detail below in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View illustrating the manner in which the carrying device of the present invention is assembled with two 6-bottle carriers to provide a unit of 12-bottle capacity;

Fig. 2 is a further perspective view showing the assembled bottle carriers in Fig. 1 in collapsed position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of the handle portions of the assembled carriers, partly broken away to illustrate further the disposition of the carrying device of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional detail taken substantially on the line 4-4 in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the bail member incorporated in the carrying device of the present invention.

Referring first to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the carrying device of the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral Ill, and is shown in Fig. 1 arranged in assembled relation with two bottle carriers 52 of c-bottle capacity such as are disclosed in my copending application SerialNo. 118,770, filed September 30, 1949. As disclosed in that copending application, the bottle carriers I 2 have handle portions formed of a pinrality of handle panels as at it and it which are arranged in face to face relation and secured adjacent their top edges, and in which hand-hold apertures are provided as at E8. The carrying device of the present invention may similarly be employed with any other form of bottle carrier having a multi-ply handle portion.

The carrying device ['0 comprises a bar member 20 proportioned for sliding insertion between the handle portion plies Hi and it above the handhold apertures 18, as illustrated by broken lines in Fig. .1, and a bail member 22 having hookshaped 'end portions it (compare Fig. 5) formed for engaging respectively the hand-hold apertures [8: of each of the bottle carriers 12. The bar member 20 and the bail member 22 are preferably formed of metal, although other suitable materials such as plastic might be used if desired.

The arrangement of the carrying device it when assembled with the bottle carrier !2 is illustrated further in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, in which it will be seen that the bottle carriers l2 are aligned in end to end relation on the bar number 20, and that the hook-shaped end portions 24 of the bail member 22 are disposed through the hand-hold apertures it and extend upwardly on each side of the handle portion and the inserted bar member 2!). The spread of each of these hook-shaped end portions 21: may be easily fixed for gripping the handle portions over the bar member 20 so that the bail member 22 remains assembled in place, and they may be spaced from one another so that the bail member 22 will retain the bottle carriers i2 slidingly assembled on the bar member 20 for carrying as a unit, and also for spacing readily over the intervening shipping case partitions when the assembled bottle carriers I? are arranged after loading in shipping cases normally intended to receive them singly.

It should also be noted that the bottle carriers l2 assembled witha carrying device 10 in accordance with the present invention are still adapted for collapsing as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. However, because the bottle carriers l2 are aligned in end to end relation on the bar member 20 of the carrying device Iii, it is necessary that their bottom walls be folded outwardly in collapsing as shown in Fig. 2, which normally has the disadvantage of rendering the bottle carriers unstable when standing alone, as

pointed out in my above identified copending application, due to the outward springing tendency of the bottom wall folded in this manner. The carrying device of the present invention, however, when assembled with the bottle carriers l2 as just described above, provides additional weight in the handle portion to overcome this outward springing tendency of the bottom wall panel, and as a result makes it possible to stabilize the bottle carriers 2 for standing alone despite the outwardly foldin bottom walls, and thereby further adapts bottle carriers assembled in accordance with the present invention for convenient and normal handling in automatic loading equipment. 7 1 v I claim:

1. A carrying device for a pair of bottle carriers comprising in combination with two bottle carriers of the type including a handle portion having a hand-hold aperture therein and formed of a plurality of handle panels arranged in face to face relation and joined along a fold line at their top edges, a bar member inserted between the handle panels and above the hand-hold apertures of the handle portions of each of said bottle carriers, and a bail member having end portions engaging respectively the adjacent end portions of the hand-hold apertures of each of said bottle carriers and thereby retaining said carriers assembled on said bar member for carrying as a unit.

2. A carrying device for a pair of bottle carriers comprisin in combination with two bottle carriers of the type including a multi-ply handle portion having a hand-hold aperture therein and leaving the plies thereof joined along a fold line at their top edges, a bar member inserted between the plies and above the hand-hold apertures of the handle portions of each of said bottle carriers, said bar member extending in a length substantially coextensive with the combined width of the handle portions of said carriers, and a bail member having hook-shaped end portions engaging respectively the adjacent end portions of the hand-hold apertures of each of said bottle carriers and thereby retaining them assembled on said bar member for carrying as a unit.

3. A carrying device for a pair of bottle carriers comprising in combination with two bottle carriers of the type includin a multi-ply handle portion having a hand-hold aperture therein and leaving the plies thereof joined along a fold line at their top edges, a bar member slidingly inserted between the plies and above the handhold apertures of the handle portions of each of said bottle carriers, said bar member having a length substantially coextensive with the aggregate Width of said handle portions and being thereby adapted for aligning said bottle carriers in end to end relation, and a bail member having hook-shaped end portions engagingrespectively the adjacent end portions of the hand-hold apertures of each of said bottle carriers and thereby retaining them slidingly assembled on said bar member for spacing over intervening shipping case partitions and for carrying as a unit when removed from said shipping case.

HOMER W. FO-RRER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 381,135 Hicks Apr. 17, 1888 778,711 Rundle Dec. 27, 1904 1,846,542 Budd Feb. 23, 1932 2,511,317 Arneson June 13, 1950 

